SuperVenture Weigh-In: The Importance of Finding Your Niche as a VC
At Berlin’s most insightful LP/VC relations event, top VCs reveal what they’ve learned about articulating their “number one-ness.”
What makes a top European VC in 2020?
Is it a strong value proposition? A niche specialization? Charisma and negotiation? Luck?
At SuperVenture 2020 in Berlin, several experts weighed in on these questions during the panel “Who should get to raise capital? Finding your niche and rising above the noise.”
Moderator Jonathan Leinmuller, actor and VC fundraising coach, led conversation about how to articulate your “number one-ness” or niche as a VC and rise above the pack. Participating speakers included Carmen Rico, Partner at Samaipata VC; Malcolm Ferguson, Principal at Octopus Ventures; and Jan Borgstädt, Partner at JOIN Capital.
The following tips and commentary — extracted directly from the panel — are a good starting point for understanding what it takes to stand out as a VC in Europe.
1. Be specialized (in a way that works for you).
“We’ve changed our approach to be much more specialist. In the early days, you could win deals just by not being an as*hole. We’ve become a focused team with many focus areas.” — Malcolm, on Octopus’s focus on the future of money, health and deep tech
“If you build something somewhere in Europe, you want to have clients in Germany, because they’re often market leaders in their niche. What we tell founders is that we’ll help them get into the industrial powerhouse of Germany.” — Jan, on JOIN’s geographic advantage as it relates to European industry
“We are early-stage, pan-European and thematic by business models.” — Carmen, on Samaipata’s standout approach
2. Know the difference in messaging for founders and LPs
Carmen: “Our value prop for founders is that we’re specialized by stage. With LPs, you have to have the same superpower, but the way you articulate it is different. How do you stand out? You need to bring the highest returns as a fund, find the best deals and add value to companies. But you need to stay true to what you believe is your thesis — otherwise you go schizo.” — Carmen
“I try to give one message. If I just say all the cool things we can do, people lose the [core message]. I think it’s always easier to start niche.” — Jan
3. Build trust through charisma, confidence and integrity
“At an early stage, I think people invest into a team. Fundamentally, people are investing in people. But I think charisma is less important than integrity.” — Malcolm
“You have to earn trust. Fundraising is usually not just one meeting. What people often forget is that VCs are entrepreneurs. We’re still entrepreneurs; they usually have charisma.” — Jan
“You need to articulate confidence. You’re offering LPs an opportunity…Trust equals credibility plus the number of quality interactions.” — Carmen
4. Articulate FOMO
“You have to create scarcity and urgency. People will miss out. You talk about these deals — they won’t be there forever. [When you communicate this way], you are talking more about deals and not so much about terms and timing.” — Jan
“The only way to catalyze the decision is having a deal.” — Malcolm
Want to know more about JOIN’s focus in Europe? Drop us a line: hello@join.capital.
